1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of aircraft display units that present flight information to the pilot or flight crew of an aircraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Avoiding weather threats is an important pilot responsibility. Most modern flight decks display horizontal weather radar information as an overlay to a Head-Down Display (“HDD”) unit. Some aircraft provide vertical weather information on a vertical situation display (“VSD”). Oftentimes in assessing a weather situation, a pilot desires to know the vertical height of a storm and whether the aircraft can clear or climb over the weather within a significant margin.
Determining storm tops in an aircraft with only horizontal weather information is very difficult, particularly for embedded cells that are not visible to the pilot. Vertical weather on a VSD may help the pilot with his or her assessment to the flight level but only for the narrow slice shown on the VSD.